The so-called “presidential elections” in Georgia’s Russia-occupied Tskhinvali/South Ossetia region have been scheduled for September 18 by the de facto parliament, local news agency Res reported on July 1.
The scheduling of the early vote follows the resignation of the region’s de facto leader, Alan Gagloev, who has become an adviser to Russian President Vladimir Putin, amid the so-called “Treaty on Deepening Allied Cooperation” signed between Moscow and Tskhinvali on May 9 and already ratified by both sides, which Tbilisi views as a step toward the region’s annexation.
Gagloev held the de facto post of “president” since 2022.
Until the new “vote” takes place, Marat Kambolov, a longtime official in Russian federal government bodies who was appointed Tskhinvali’s de facto “prime minister” a week before Gagloev’s resignation, will serve as acting “president.”
The setting of the “election” date also coincided with a visit to Tskhinvali by Russian Presidential Administration official Sergey Kiriyenko, who met Kambolov. Kiriyenko is widely understood to oversee Russia’s policy in Georgia’s occupied territories.
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